Russian tennis great Yevgeny Kafelnikov has sensationally claimed that Mirra Andreeva has “no prospects” of Grand Slam success unless she makes significant improvements.

Teen star Andreeva has long been recognised by many as one of the brightest talents on the WTA Tour, and has soared up the WTA Rankings since her initial breakthrough at the 2023 Madrid Open.

The 18-year-old reached her first Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open in 2024 and won her first WTA Tour title in Iasi later that season, before further success in 2025.

Andreeva claimed back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells last spring and then reached the last eight of both the French Open and Wimbledon, reaching a high of fifth in the WTA Rankings.

The Russian won her fourth WTA title earlier in 2026, beating Victoria Mboko in the Adelaide International final.

Andreeva was considered a significant contender heading into the Australian Open, but was then beaten in the fourth round by Elina Svitolina, with the eighth seed falling 6-2, 6-4 to the Ukrainian.

The teen star was far from her best in her loss to Svitolina, with her performance not too dissimilar from some of those she produced during a challenging closing spell of her 2025 campaign.

Andreeva’s partnership with coach and former world No 2 Conchita Martinez is often celebrated as one of the best in the women’s game, and the Russian has made vast improvements under the guidance of the former Wimbledon champion.

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However, two-time Grand Slam singles champion and former world No 1 Kafelnikov has now warned Andreeva that she could miss out on scaling the greatest heights in tennis.

Speaking on First & Red, Kafelnikov claimed that Andreeva must “change” significantly to threaten at the very top of the sport.

He said (translated from Russian): “To be honest, I wish I hadn’t watched that match between Andreeva and Svitolina, because it really revealed a huge number of shortcomings in Mirra’s game.

“And honestly, with the way she’s playing right now, I’ll say this — you can hate me, you can say whatever you want — but she has no prospects of becoming the world No 1 or winning a Grand Slam.

“You need to look reality straight in the eye. I genuinely want — I’m telling you this honestly — for her to improve as a tennis player and to win a huge number of Grand Slam tournaments, but to do that, something has to change.”

Kafelnikov further claimed that another WTA rising star, world No 20 and Australian Open quarter-finalist Iva Jovic, had more potential than his compatriot.

He added: “I’ve just taken a look — Jovic is a young American.

“If you compare them side by side, they’re the same age. Who do I prefer? Jović’s potential is ten times greater than Andreeva’s. You have to be objective.”

Andreeva has not competed since her loss to Svitolina at the Australian Open, though she will return to action at the Qatar Open in Doha this week.

With Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula both absent, the world No 7 is set to be the fifth seed at the event, and has an opening-round bye at the first WTA 1000 event of 2026.

After action in Doha, the 18-year-old will look to defend her Dubai and Indian Wells titles.

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